the
Pope (1513-1521) responsible for sparking the Protestant
Reformation

Giovanni de Medici was born in Florence
on December 11, 1475, the second son of Lorenzo the
Magnificent and Clarice Orsini. Destined for the Church
from an early age, he received tonsure in 1482, was made
Abbot of Font Douce (in the French Diocese of Saintes)
and appointed Apostolic Prothonotary by Pope Sixtus IV in
1483, and became possessed of the Abbey of Passignano in
1484, and of Monte Cassino in 1486. He was created
Cardinal by Pope Innocent VIII in 1489, on condition that
he dispense with the insignia and privileges of his
office for three years. After studying theology and canon
law at Pisa, he was invested with the insignia of
Cardinal on March 9, 1492, and entered Rome on March 22.

Giovanni's time in Rome was
short-lived, however, as his father died on April 8 and
he was recalled to Florence. Aside from participating in
the conclave following the death of Innocent VIII in
July, where he opposed the election of Cardinal Borgia,
Giovanni remained in Florence until his family's
expulsion in November of 1494. He spent the next several
years trying to restore the supremacy of his family,
while leading the life of a literary and artistic amateur
in Germany, the Netherlands, and France. He became Legate
in Bologna and Romagna on October 1, 1511. In 1512, the
Spanish and Papal army with which he was traveling was
defeated at Ravenna by the French; he was taken prisoner,
but managed to escape. The supremacy of the Medici family
in Florence was finally re-established on September 14,
1512, by means of a bloodless revolution.

His Papacy

Giovanni de Medici was elected Pope on
March 11, 1513. The last non-Bishop to become Pope, he
was ordained into the priesthood on March 15, consecrated
Bishop on March 17, and enthroned as Pope Leo X on March
19.

Pope Leo's papal reign was marked by
wars with France, which were finally ended with the
conclusion of the Lateran Council that had begun under
Pope Julius II, on March 16, 1517. That Council also
ended the Pisan schism, ratified the censorship of books
introduced by Pope Alexander VI, and imposed tithes for a
war against the Turks.

Leo's reign was also known for its
lavish works of charity, and for his extravagant building
and beautification projects within the Vatican. His
spending left the Vatican's coffers empty by the spring
of 1515, and led him to institute a variety of
questionable practices in order to rebuild the Vatican's
treasury. Among those practices was the selling of papal
offices and the imposition of "donations" in
exchange for forgiveness. These acts led Martin Luther to
post his "95 Theses" criticizing the church. In
1520, Pope Leo issued the papal bull Exsurge Domine,
demanding that Luther retract 41 of his theses. When
Luther refused to back down, Pope Leo excommunicated him,
touching off what is now known as the Protestant
Reformation.